Hold water…
March 22, 1996 · ~3 a.m.
The trailer arson.
Arson destroyed nine boats, forty oars, nine cox boxes, and the team trailer. UTC’s insurance claim totaled $57,157.72. Two days later, the women’s novice B 4+ rowed at the Augusta Invitational in borrowed boats and won.
What was lost
Nine boats and a trailer.
- 1 UTC eight
- 3 UTC fours
- 1 of Coach Espeseth’s personal eights
- 3 McCallie fours
- 1 Chattanooga Youth four
- 40 oars · 9 cox boxes · the trailer itself
Source: Trailer Arson 1996 folder, UTC ARC. Insurance claim figures from program records.
The photo record
Documented by Ben Robbs.
Ben Robbs was a UTC rower in the mid-1990s and the team’s de-facto photographer. He sent these photos in May 2026 after re-connecting with the program through Susan Lazenby’s women’s-crew dinner group. The site previously had one photograph from this event; with these, the morning of March 22 becomes a documented event.
Photographer: Ben Robbs (UTC Rowing alumnus). Contributed May 2026 via Dropbox.
How the press covered it
The University Echo and the Free Press both ran it.
UTC’s student paper led with the fire and the police investigation. The Chattanooga Free Press ran the Augusta win two days later under “Area Spotlight.” Both clippings are part of the program archive.
Two days later
The novice B 4+ won at Augusta in borrowed boats.
Two days after the fire, UTC’s women’s novice B 4+ rowed the Augusta Invitational in shells loaned by other programs and won their division.
The community fundraised within months. A replacement trailer was procured July/August 1996. The program kept rowing.
“UTC Novice Crew Wins”
Help fill the record
Were you there? Do you know who “Robert G. N___” was?
One of the destroyed shells bore that dedication. We can’t read the surname. If you remember the boat, the donor, or anything from those days — or if you’re in any of these photos — tell us.